The Equation Group hack tool set is associated with advanced persistent threats and may indicate the presence of sophisticated malware or espionage activity. SOC teams should proactively hunt for this behavior in Azure Sentinel to identify potential long-term compromise and unauthorized data exfiltration.
YARA Rule
rule EquationGroup_watcher_linux_i386_v_3_3_0 {
meta:
description = "Equation Group hack tool set"
author = "Florian Roth"
reference = "https://medium.com/@shadowbrokerss/dont-forget-your-base-867d304a94b1"
date = "2017-04-09"
hash1 = "ce4c9bfa25b8aad8ea68cc275187a894dec5d79e8c0b2f2f3ec4184dc5f402b8"
strings:
$s1 = "invalid option `" fullword ascii
$s8 = "readdir64" fullword ascii
$s9 = "89:z89:%r%opw" fullword wide
$s13 = "Ropopoprstuvwypypop" fullword wide
$s17 = "Missing argument for `-x'." fullword ascii
condition:
( uint16(0) == 0x457f and filesize < 700KB and all of them )
}This YARA rule can be deployed in the following contexts:
This rule contains 5 string patterns in its detection logic.
Scenario: Legitimate Use of msiexec.exe for Software Deployment
Description: A system administrator uses msiexec.exe to deploy a legitimate software update or application via a scheduled task.
Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes where msiexec.exe is used with valid MSI package paths and executed by a known admin account during scheduled maintenance windows.
Scenario: Scheduled Job for System Maintenance Using taskhost.exe
Description: A scheduled task runs through taskhost.exe to perform system cleanup, disk defragmentation, or log rotation.
Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes where taskhost.exe is associated with known system maintenance tasks and executed by the SYSTEM or local admin account.
Scenario: Use of regsvr32.exe for Registering Valid COM Components
Description: A developer or admin uses regsvr32.exe to register a legitimate COM component or DLL during application setup.
Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes where regsv232.exe is used with valid DLL paths and executed in a known development or deployment environment.
Scenario: Legitimate Use of certutil.exe for Certificate Management
Description: An IT administrator uses certutil.exe to manage certificates, import/export PKCS#12 files, or renew SSL certificates.
Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes where certutil.exe is used with known certificate management commands and executed by a trusted admin account.
Scenario: Use of msconfig.exe for System Configuration Changes
Description: An admin uses msconfig.exe to configure boot options, services, or startup programs during routine system configuration.
Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes where msconfig.exe is launched by a known admin user and used for documented system configuration tasks